Sickstuck
by catzlovecheeze
Summary: "Why won't Vriska let us help her? She could die from a human flu, couldn't she!" Jade asked, looking anxious. Karkat sighed, looking down. "Yeah," he responded. "She could." TavrosxVriska / Tavris.
1. Chapter 1

(Catz: Sooooo, this isn't chronologically accurate. AU. There ya go. Don't go saying "but that's not even in the same sweep!" in the comments. Thanks, doll.)

"Get the FUCK OUT!" Karkat heard, stumbling out of the room and slamming the door closed protectively before he heard a wham as something hit the door. Probably breakable. Great.

He snarled to himself, walking into the common room. They were in the human Rose's house; all twelve of them and all four humans. Terezi looked up from her laptop to him; probably having smelled him as soon as he walked in. "Hey, Karkat," she said, her tone much more somber than her usual bouncy cackle. Everyone else turned to look at the mention of his name, besides Gamzee, who was passed out in his horn pile in a corner of the room.

"Hey," Karkat mumbled back, looking around the room.

"How is she?" Aradia asked, sitting next to Sollux on the couch, her voice soft with real concern. Karkat flinched at the tone; he knew Aradia and Vriska didn't have the best past, and weren't "friends" by any stretch of the word or imagination. But yet Aradia seemed to be putting that aside for right now, justified concern for the blue-blood taking over her. Taking over all of them. He bit his lip, eyes downcast as he responded.

"She…she's worse. And she won't let me near her." He muttered.

"How much worse?" Kanaya asked, sitting on the floor playing Scrabble with Rose. Figures they'd play that; they both had dictionaries built into their think pans.

"She's sweating like crazy," or like Equius, he thought to himself, but didn't add for the sake of the blue-blood who was sitting on the floor, a pile of gears around him and a wrench forgotten in his hand as he listened to Karkat's response, "and she's damn pale. She can barely talk without coughing, but yet she has the energy to throw a lamp or whatever at me from across the room."

"Hell, maybe if she's strong enough for that, she'll be fine," Dave said. Karkat shook his head.

"No, she won't be. Remember when Sollux got really sick a few weeks ago?" Nods, and he saw Aradia reach over and take Sollux's hand, squeezing it. The poor girl had been sure that he was going to die. "Well, that's what she has, I think. A human flu that we don't have antibodies against. And she's worse than Sollux was, because she hid it from us for so long like an idiot. And now, also like an idiot, she's not letting us help her."

"But she could die from a human flu!" Jade said, her eyes wide and her posture stiff and anxious. Karkat looked at her, feeling anxious himself.

"Yes," he said. "She could."

"Ugh!" Jade exclaimed, grabbing her hair in a fit of frustration and anxiety. "That stupid, dumb girl! Why is she being so stubborn? Why won't she let us help her?"

Karkat sighed, looking down at the floor. "I don't know," he said, truthfully. He was worried about the girl as much as anyone was; he wasn't exactly in love with all the shit she had done to all of them in the past, but he sure as hell didn't want her to die. And she was really sick, and only getting worse.

"Well, we can't, just, do nothing!" Tavros spoke up, sitting on the couch next to his four-wheeled device. His face was worried for the blue-blood as well, and Karkat felt a bit of admiration for the bull-horned troll; Tavros was concerned for Vriska, though he had the most reason to hate her (well, besides Aradia), as she had bound him to a chair indefinitely.

"I'm not sure what we can do right now. We might be able to do something once she passes out from fever or lack of energy." Karkat said.

"We can't wait that, that long!" Tavros said. "If she passes out, that means she's, uh, she's…" He trailed off, unable to finish.

"Near death, I know." Karkat finished for him. "But she won't let any of us near her. Even Gamzee got his ass out of the horn pile a little while ago and went in there to try to help her. She threw her laptop at his head, remember? Now we can't even pester her; she broke it like a dumbass." He eyed Tavros thoughtfully. "I think you're the only one who hasn't gone in her room, actually."

"Then I'll go right now."

Karkat sighed, exasperated. "Don't be stupid, Tavbro. She'll tear your head off."

"I'm going." Tavros insisted, swinging himself into his chair.

"Why do you want to help her so bad, anyways?" Karkat asked. He didn't mean it maliciously, but he saw Tavros flinch. He tried to justify it with explanation. "I mean, she paralyzed you, didn't she?"

Tavros looked down at his legs. "Yeah, she, uh, did. But still," he looked up at Karkat. "I'm not going to let her die now for something she did then."

"I agree," Aradia said, and Karkat looked over at her. "She's different than she was a sweep ago."

Karkat looked down at a determined Tavros and a roomful of worried people and trolls. "I didn't mean that she did. I was just a bit…confused." He sighed. "I know she's different now. We all are." He thought of how their time with the humans had changed their thoughts about killing others. A practice that was acceptable on Alternia was being questioned here, the thoughts and customs of Earth rubbing off on them. Not surprisingly, some customs of the trolls were also rubbing off on the four humans, as they talked about finding kismesis's or morail's now.

"At least take this with you," he said, disappearing for a moment and coming back with a damp cloth, thermos, and box.

"There's broth in the thermos. Probably the only thing she can keep down right now, along with those crackers in the box. Use the cloth for her forehead." Karkat instructed. "Good luck." He said, his words of blessing echoed by most around the room.

"Thanks." Tavros said, giving Karkat a smile and wheeling himself out of the room, down the halls toward Vriska's room.

He opened the door softly, wheeling himself into the room, carefully avoiding a cracked alarm clock on the floor.

So that's what she threw at Karkat.

"Vriska?" He asked when he was close to her bedside (they didn't have recuprocoons on Earth, though he didn't mind the beds himself). "It's Tavros. You awake?"

A head of messy, tangled hair rose up. A pale face turned toward him, flushed with blue right below yellow eyes that glared at him.

"Get out."

Catz: I think this is the first fanfic I've ever used the word "fuck" in. What a milestone!

I'm really excited to have a new fanfiction in progress; it's been way to long since I finished From Shallow Waters, and I've missed you guys! Missed writing fanfiction in general.

So I'm Homestuck trash now. It's official. Fight me.

I'll update soon as I can~!


	2. Chapter 2

"Vriska, I'm not, uh, leaving. I need to, uh, help you…" Tavros said, wheeling himself closer slowly. Vriska wretched upward in bed, snarling at him. Gog, she looked like hell.

"HELP me? Help me what? Answer that, fairy boy!" Vriska snarled. A sweep ago, Tavros would have flinched, flushed, and wheeled himself out of the room silently. But now, though he flushed, he narrowed his eyes and wheeled ever closer.

"First, Pupa isn't a fairy. He HAS a fairy," Tavros stated. "And second, I'm helping you get better. You're si-"

"I'M NOT SICK!" Vriska screeched, collapsing in on herself in a coughing fit immediately after. She lifted her head, hand at her throat. "Why do all you stupid fucks think I'm sick? I'm just peachy."

"Vriska, we think you have what Sollux had a few weeks back. Remember how Aradia couldn't stop crying, because we all thought he was going to die?" Vriska grimaced, thinking back to the stressful few days. "You're already worse than he was," Vriska bristled at that, barring her fangs, but Tavros continued, "and you're only going to get worse-"

"I'm NOT going to get worse!" Vriska shouted, furious, face entirely flushed blue now. "I'm stronger than honey-blood is, and I can get through this by myself! I don't need a babysitter!"

Tavros sighed; she sounded like Equius. Strong strong strong. "No one is calling you weak, Vriska. It's just that the flu saps energy, and, uh…"

"And strength, right?" Vriska growled. "Oh, we aren't calling you weak, Vriska. Just saying you have no strength!"

"Vriska, don't be stupid." Tavros said, getting irritated. "You know it's because of the flu. And you know you can't fight this off without help; we don't have any antibodies against this, you need assistance. It's stupid to try to do this on your own."

"It's not stupid, it's just that I don't need you people fluttering all about me while I'm getting my heal on." Vriska said, doing a poor, scratchy imitation of Gamzee's voice in the last four letters. Tavros rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to be doing much fluttering, Vriska. I've already established that it's not Pupa who's a fairy. Now stop complaining and-"

"Look, Tavros, I'm FINE. See?" Vriska said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up.

Or trying to.

She pitched forward, off-balanced, stumbling right into Tavros's wheelchair. She grabbed both the arms of the chair as she fell forward, efficiently pushing it, and it rolled backward, nearly to the door. Vriska groaned, her chin on Tavros's knees.

"See? I'm fine." She said, glaring up at Tavros.

"Clearly." He replied. "Are you alright to get back up?"

"I just got dizzy, I'm fine," Vriska answered, standing again, and again staggering, falling backwards onto the bed.

"That's probably the best place for you right now, anyways." Tavros said, wheeling closer to her. Virska lifted her messy head to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What's that supposed to mean, hmm Tav?" She purred best she could without going into another coughing fit. Tavros flushed, reaching the bed.

"It means you need to go back to sleep." He said, lifting himself out of the wheelchair with his arms and sitting on the edge of the bed. Vriska groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes.

"If it'll get you off my back, I'll play along. So, fine. Maybe I've got a little sniffle. It doesn't mean I'm gonna die. So you can leave now. Thanks for stopping by!" She moved her arm, looking at him as he settled on the bed. "Door's the other way, Pupa."

"You don't have any "little sniffle', Vriska. You can't even stand up, and I'm not going anywhere." Tavros said, looking over at her. "Why are you so adverse to our help, anyways?"

"Because I'm not sick, dumbass!" Vriska snapped, crawling back under the covers, before kicking them off. "I'm too hot," She grumbled, before smirking. "Hot damn! Make a dragon wanna retire, man!"

"Terezi's not going anywhere," Tavros said, grinning, scooting over to her, reaching out to touch her forehead. She slapped his hand away weakly.

"I don't need you groping my think-pan, ok? I'm going back to sleep anyways. Your wish is being fulfilled, it's a Christmas miracle! Go watch for Santa Claus out the window and leave me to sleep off my case of mild sniffles."

"Didn't know you were so eager to get rid of me, Vriska." Tavros muttered, making no move to get up. Vriska sighed, turning to him.

"It's not that I want you to leave. Hell, I love having people having a big old rumpus rave in my room when I'm trying to sleep. It's just…"

"Just what?" Tavros asked, leaning closer.

"Nothing." She grumbled, throwing her arm over her eyes once more. Tavros reached out again, touching her forehead, and though she tensed at his touch, she didn't draw away or push his hand away. Her skin was hot below his fingers.

"Jegus, Vriska, you're burning up!" He said, pulling his hand back.

"Didn't you kind of suspect that, anyways?" She asked, looking up at him. "With all your 'Oh, you're sick, Vriska!'"

Tavros didn't respond, instead pressing the damp cloth to Vriska's forehead. He expected her to push him away again, but she just moved her arm back to her side, her eyes closed, and sighed in a contended way. He moved the rag, pressing it to the rest of her face as well. She opened one eye to look at him with seven pupils.

"I'm really NOT sick. You know that, right?"

"I know." He said, offering a little smile to her.

"I'm just allowing this to humor you."

"Of course."

They sat in silence after that, Tavros, wiping her forehead with the cloth. Vriska had closed her eyes again, and Tavros only realized she had fallen asleep after she started mumbling feverishly in her sleep, tossing about a bit. He set the cloth at the bedside table, pulling the lightest blanket over her. Anymore and she would kick them off, but without any she could get cold later; never a good thing for a sick perso- er, troll.

Tavros lifted himself back into his chair, wheeling out of the room. He needed to let Karkat know he hadn't been murdered by Vriska. He cast one glance back to the girl lying on the bed, shifting and speaking in a fitful sleep. His mind wandered back to the last sweep they'd all been through together.

_"__I know she's changed. We all have."_

Catz: I'm having fun writing this. I still re-read, re-edit, and that's not fun, but I don't want to write shit. I feel satisfied with this. And it is pretty fun to write in lyrics to Uptown Funk. Vriska likes pop music, apparently.

Also, Tavros is gonna reflect on the past sweep. Next chapter. Stay tuned. Or something.

This is like the fastest I've updated in a while, too. I was updating From Shallow Waters like every month near the end. So I'm actually doing a thing now.

Yeah. I'm done. Author's note out~


	3. Chapter 3

_The time the trolls spent with the humans had definitely changed their views on things. Tavros had been surprised to hear that all humans had red blood. The hemospectrum was so ingrained into him that he couldn't imagine what it was like to have the same blood as everyone else as your species. He learned they had "racism", based on the color of people's skin, which was similar, but generally considered taboo and wrong; another surprise. Discrimination based on the color of one's blood was common and accepted. _

_The idea was generally brushed off at first, but got gradually more accepted as the trolls settled into human culture and lifestyle. Tavros was grateful for it. It felt nice to not be called "mud-blood" anymore. Other ideas from the humans, such as that of homicide being wrong, were also surprising and interesting, and sort of took root in the troll's heads after a time._

_This wasn't to say they saw everything like the humans now, or to say they were losing their own culture. They still believed in the quadrants, something the humans were interested in as well as dabbling with. But the views of the humans were giving them a taste of another side of things; making them question long-held beliefs, ask, "but is it right to judge someone for the color of their blood?" Tavros read something in one the human Rose's books (which she had a lot of) saying "The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions." By Ralph Wando Emersong or something. He remembered the quote because it explained things so well._

_Some of the higher-bloods had a tough time adjusting to the idea of being treated equal to the lower-bloods. Vriska especially. She spent a lot of time listening to John, talking about human views of homicide and "hemocism," as they had come to call discrimination for blood color. She didn't seem to accept the ideas, though, as she called Tavros mud-blood for quite a while after most trolls had stopped using blood-slurs, and for a while he just winced and took it, in his quiet, stuttering way._

_However, he started to gain some self-confidence, slowly believing he wasn't lower than everyone else just because of his blood-color. No one but Vriska called him mud-blood anymore; something that had always sort of held him back, made him feel insignificant. His stutter lessened, though it was still there; it was difficult to break old habits, but he wasn't afraid of voicing his opinions anymore, because he wasn't ignored anymore. He never got up the courage to confront Vriska, though; she still frightened him. But even though her taunts stung, he didn't take them to heart as he once had._

_He didn't like Vriska a lot, since she bullied him like she did, but he was interested in her. Not necessarily in a romantic sense, but just in general. He couldn't figure out why she seemed to hate him like she did; he hadn't done anything to antagonize her, but she still hissed blood-slurs at him in hallways with no one else around, shoved his wheelchair when no one was looking, smirked at him condescendingly. She still acted like she was his superior; she always had, but it was different now. Her superior attitude seemed purposeful now, rather than natural, as it had been before. _

_He figured maybe she wanted to retain her position of superiority that was a gift from her blood hue, but didn't want the other trolls to know, lest they accuse her of being a hemocist. So she bullied the one who was least likely to fight it, just so she could feel like she was still in control over someone. He hadn't heard her call Sollux anything nasty, so she was just bullying someone she knew was weaker than her. Tavros, despite his leap in self-confidence, knew he wasn't as strong as Vriska; he wasn't anywhere near as sure of anything as she was, and he was afraid when she wasn't; she seemed fearless. But Jade had told him bullies were cowards, and seeing how she only picked on him, who she apparently saw as the weakest, it seemed to fit the bill. He couldn't see Vriska as a coward, though. She intimidated him too much for that._

_Later in the sweep, it suddenly stopped. One day she was taunting him, the next she wasn't. She didn't shove his chair anymore, and she seemed to avoid him for a little while. He thought for a bit that she might be angry at him for something, and was giving him the silent treatment, but that wasn't like her. If Vriska was mad at you, you got screamed at for a minute or two, and then she wasn't mad as she was. She was one to let it out explosively, rather than hold it in a quiet grudge. But she wouldn't even meet his gaze for about a week. Eventually, though, she stopped avoiding him. They weren't ever really friends, as Tavros still found her unapproachable and she never initiated any type of relationship with him, but they weren't enemies anymore. _

_Tavros didn't really understand why she stopped antagonizing him, and though he was grateful for it, it confused him. He liked her better for it, but didn't understand why. She hadn't seemed to accept the ideas of hemocism being wrong, so why she would stop so suddenly and so bizarrely confused him. He settled on the idea that she had just accepted it long after others had._

_Maybe he was foggy on the reasons for the change, but he welcomed it anyways. It was nice to not be called mud-blood, not be pushed around. _

_Even if they weren't friends, she had changed, and he appreciated it._

Catz: The quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I really don't know how much I like this story. It just seems too clunky, too forced. It doesn't seem to flow right. But I might also be out of practice. You guys keep reading it, though, so as long as you seem to like it, I'll try to keep it up. I always felt bummed when someone discontinued a fic I was really into, so I try to never do that. Do you even like it? Let me know, you guys. Leave a review~


	4. Chapter 4

Tavros wheeled himself into the living room, feeling the carpet tug down his wheels, having to push on the wheels harder to move. Karkat looked up at him.

"Glad to see she didn't disembowel you, Tavbro," he greeted. "Congrats. Besides your survival, how'd it go?"

"She, uh, she let me help her out." Tavros replied. Karkat raised his eyebrows.

"Really? How'd you manage that?"

"I had to argue with her for a little while. But she fell down, and after that, she let me, help her. She fell asleep after a little while. I left the things you gave me in her room." Tavros said.

"It's weird that she would even let you in her room without her throwing something at you. Is she ok after falling?"

"She's fine. But she looks really sick."

"That's because she is. But with you helping her out, she won't be for much longer, hopefully." Karkat groaned, lifting his arms above his head. "You should probably go get something to eat, Tav. We all got something while you were helping Vriska out."

"I'll go with him," Gamzee volunteered. "C'mon, motherfucker, let's go to the kitchen."

Laying in his bed later, after eating, laughing, and dropping some 'strict beats' with Gamzee, he thought back to Vriska. He was honestly still intrigued by her; why she had seemed to hate him, why she had stopped taunting him, why she had become so distant from him after she stopped bullying him. It was a mystery, and it only made him curious about her. Now that he was taking care of her, she seemed to speak with him fine, despite being so distant up until now.

She was on his mind as he fell asleep.

The next day, he pushed the door to Vriska's room open. "Vriska, are you, ah, awake?" He asked, wheeling himself over to her bed.

"No," came the muffled reply, the voice thick with sleep.

Tavros set down a new thermos with hot broth down. He figured the other one had gotten cold, though the crackers from last time weren't a problem. He had brought a bottle of water for the rag, as well as for Vriska. Broth was good, but she would need water too. He lifted himself onto her bed, reaching over to touch her shoulder.

"Hate to wake you up, Vris, but you really, uh, should eat something." He said, gently nudging her. She groaned, pulling her blanket over her head.

"Go 'way. I don't need a babysitter."

Tavros rolled his eyes, feeling mildly irritated. Were they gonna go through this routine every time he came in? "I know that if I leave, you're just gonna go back to sleep. And you really do need to eat. So I'm not leaving until, uh, until you eat something."

She groaned, peeking up at him from under the covers.

"I'll let you go back to sleep after, ok?" He said, offering her a small smile.

She shoved off the covers, sitting up. Her hair was worse than yesterday, getting matted in some places. She was starting to break out; probably from not being able to get up for long enough to take a shower. She glared at him as he looked her over.

"Don't. Say. Anything. I know I look like shit already," She huffed.

"You don't look like shit, Vriska, you just look like you're sick." He replied. "You hungry?"

"Yeah."

He reached over, pulling out a sleeve of crackers. She took it, as well as the thermos he handed her. He observed her as she ate; or, while she tried to. She did alright with the crackers, she had trouble with opening it, but she ate them alright. The broth was another story. She could barely open it, having trouble just as she had with the cracker sleeve, her fingers seeming more stiff and clumsy than usual. He offered to open it for her, but she just growled at him, holding it out of his reach. She got it open, lifting it to her face.

And promptly spilled it all over herself as it nearly slipped from her sickness-clumsy hands.

"Fuck!" She snarled, and Tavros reached out and took the thermos from her quickly, before it spilt more. Or before she threw it across the room, as the look on her face suggested she might well do. He set it down, taking up the cloth he had used for her forehead, handing it over to her. She pressed it to her soaked chest, growling to herself.

"This is bullshit. I probably look like a little kid, huh? Oh, wow, look at that idiot, spilling food on herself like a child. Let's film it and post it to YouTube under the title of "fucking idiot". I hate this. I'm not a kid, I'm not weak, I shouldn't have to put up with this bullshi-" The explicit was cut off with a strangled noise as she jerked her head away from Tavros, facing the far wall.

"Vriska, are you alright?" Tavros asked. She didn't reply, her shoulders drawing in on herself. He gently, but firmly, took hold of her shoulders, turning her towards him. She struggled against him to keep her back to him, and though a sweep ago he would have never been able to turn her around, he had gotten stronger. He pulled her toward him, and her hands went up to her face, her breaths quickening, shaking her frame. Tavros stared.

"Vriska, are you crying?"

"Fuck y-you." She said shakily behind her hands, before breaking down in tears.

Tavros didn't really know what to do with a crying Vriska. He hadn't known Vriska _could_ cry; she had always seemed unbreakable, seemed to have god-like strength. Like nothing could ever get her down. But yet she sat before him, crying into her hands.

He reached over to her, pulling her into his arms. She pushed against his chest with her hands, but her fingers clutched at the fabric of his shirt as she did. He had no intention of letting her go, anyways. He rubbed her back with one hand, the other resting on the back of her head, petting her tangled locks. He quietly murmured to her, his head over her shoulder, close to her ear.

"Hey, it's ok, Vriska. Shh, it's alright, it's alright."

"-te this." He looked down at the quivering girl in his arms.

"Hm?"

"I HATE THIS!" She shouted, shoving him away. "I hate being clumsy, I hate being coddled and babied! I hate that I spilt that fucking shit on myself!" Tears still flowed down her cheeks, and she dropped her face back into her hands.

"I hate feeling weak." She choked out, quietly.

He reached out and touched her shoulder, unsure if he should embrace her again. She jerked away.

"Don't touch me. I don't need your 'platonic pity'," She said harshly.

He sat for a moment, looking at her as she glared back, struggling against her tears, slowing her breathing from sobs to normal, wiping her cheeks with her sleeve.

"Vriska, do you hate me?" he asked quietly.

She looked up at him, open shock on her face. It melted into shame quickly, and she looked down as she started to speak.

"I don't hate you, Tavros. It's just…it's really complicated, alright?"

"You can talk about it with me if you want," he offered. Her eyes flickered up to his face, uneasy and unsure.

It was a look he'd never seen on her before.

"I-I don't – I'm not sure if…"

"It's ok if you don't want to," he said, and she nodded. "But I'm always here if you want to talk about anything, ok?" Another nod.

"You better now?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied, her voice still a little rough, but controlled now.

"That's good," he said, giving her a smile. "Let me help you get cleaned up, 'kay?"

She looked away, biting her lower lip, seeming to debate the answer with herself. After a moment, she turned her gaze back to him, offering a small, hesitant smile with her reply.

"Okay."

Catz: This chapter is prompt, huh? I couldn't wait to post this shit, for once.

This chapter flowed a lot nicer; was easier to write. I'm starting to like this story a lot~

Leave a review, beautiful people reading my story! AN out~


	5. Chapter 5

Tavros leaned forward in his chair to pull the still-warm clothes out of the dryer, folding them and setting them in the laundry basket on his lap. He started off, trying to balance the basket while wheeling himself. Not easy, but so long in the chair had made him adjust to such tasks.

He had helped Vriska stand and shakily walk to the bathroom. She could walk, of course; she had to use the bathroom sometimes, after all, but it must have been quite difficult, judging from how heavily she had to lean on his chair as he wheeled over to the bathroom with her. She mumbled that she could bathe herself, and Tavros didn't argue that. He waited outside the door as she undressed, hearing quite a bit of cursing and bumping into things, until she cracked the door and slipped her borth-covered pajamas through the crack. Tavros slid a change of clothes (jeans and a shirt, opposed to PJ's) through the door for when she was done. He took the clothes over to the laundry room, hearing the water start as he wheeled out.

He had come back to check on her after putting the clothes in the washer; he was worried for her. It sounded like she had to drag herself around on the floor in there; even leaning on his chair, her legs had been shaky and uncooperative. He had offered to get a female to assist her, and she had wildly and angrily shaken her head, growling a "NO!" He didn't push it; she obviously still didn't want others help. It made him wonder again why she had accepted his and not any others.

He had sat in the room for the most part, reading or answering to "how's it going?" messages on his phone. He heard the occasional thump, accompanied by "fuck!" from the bathroom, and would call out tentatively, asking if she needed help, and he would get a weary "no, I'm fine." After about forty-five minutes, the shower shut off, and after fifteen minutes more of curses, thumps, and a padding noise that was probably her crawling across the floor to the counter to get her clothes change, Vriska, clothed, a towel draped over her shoulders to keep her damp hair from soaking her back, opened the door, leaning heavily on the knob to stand.

Tavros wheeled over, offering her the back of his chair. Vriska held onto it as they made their way back to the bed. Her legs seemed worse than before, and he moved slowly for her. Reaching the bed, Vriska sat down, giving Tavros a tired smile as he sat next to her.

"Let me tell you, that was the most challenging shower I've ever taken."

Tavros grinned in response, deciding not to say anything. He didn't want to say anything that might make her feel like he was making a jab at her, and no response seemed suitable. "I bet," or "I would think so!" all seemed unlikely to be well-received by her.

Instead, he eyed her hair. It was clean now, but didn't seem any less tangled. He reached over, gently tugging at a lock of it, looking at her.

"We should probably do something about this before it gets so matted you need to cut it."

Vriska groaned. "Tav, you said I need to eat and I could go back to sleep. I'm too damn tired to do shit with my hair."

"You can go to sleep after eating, but at leat let me brush it out while you eat."

Vriska looked over at him, a mix of suspicious and confused. "After my proving I've got the motor skills of a toddler, I figured you were gonna insist on spoon-feeding me or something."

"I did consider that, but I figured you'd hate that. So, I got this," he said, reaching over to the bedside table, taking the now-warm broth and a straw, unscrewing the top and slipping the straw in before offering it to Vriska. She took it, cupping her hands around it, staring at Tavros.

"The broth is still warm, but at a temperature where it won't melt the straw or anything. I figured you'd prefer this to me feeding you; you said you hated being babied," he said.

She stared down at the thermos in her hands, face blank. She raised her knees a bit, lifting the thermos to rest on them, angling the straw towards herself and taking a sip. Her arms did shake a bit, along with her knees at being forced to undergo any type of labor, but she wasn't spilling it all over herself now.

She glanced over at Tavros, giving him a tentative smile.

"…Thank you."

He smiled back. "No problem. Do you want help with your hair?"

"…Alright. There's a brush in that drawer."

Tavros tugged himself farther onto the bed after getting the brush, sitting behind Vriska, brushing out her still-damp hair. They sat in silence as he worked on her hair and she sipped on the straw. Her hair was a challenge, but he didn't mind. Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he liked the way it smelled; soapy and clean. He was almost disappointed when he finished untangling it.

He got her to drink about half the water bottle with the straw as well, before she pushed it away, insisting she was hydrated enough. He relented, and she burrowed under the covers, looking exhausted.

"Get some good rest, kay?" Tavros said, scooting back to the edge of the bed, lifting himself back into his chair. Vriska snorted.

"Don't worry, I will. There's no way I'm not gonna fall asleep." She replied.

Tavros smiled, again opting not to say anything she might not interpret as he meant. He started out of the room, pausing when he heard a "Hey, Tavros?"

"Yeah?" He asked, turning back toward her.

"…Thanks. For everything."

He smiled, and replied, "No problem. Want the light off?"

"Yeah."

"Night, Vriska."

"Night."

Now he wheeled himself back to her room, opening the door quietly and setting the basket with the clothes in the room just next to the door. He glanced over at her sleeping form in the darkness. He could hear a few mumbles from her as she shifted slightly, and he smiled, quietly wheeling out of the room.

He swore he could feel a blush on his face as he closed the door.

Catz: Past four chapters: 'Where did Catz go? This person actually updates on time.'

This chapter: "Found her.'

Sorry not sorry. On the other hand, look at this wow. It's got how Vriska's got to be independent and such main plot points. And Tavros blushed~

Leave a review!


	6. Chapter 6

Catz: Disclaimer for this chapter: I am not a doctor. Enjoy.

"Vriska? Are you up?" Tavros asked, wheeling himself into her room, balancing a plate with a few pieces of toast on it in his lap, holding a cup with water in it. He thought it seemed like an tasteless breakfast, but Rose had insisted that it was best to not test a sick person's stomach first in the morning, and toast and water would be the easiest to keep down. He flipped on the light, wheeling over to the bed and setting the food down, lifting himself onto her bed where she still slept, facing away from him.

"Vriska?" He said. "Hate to wake you up, but you need to eat. You can go back to sleep after you do, alright?"

No response. He reached over, gently shaking her shoulder.

"Hey, sleepy. You gotta eat, ok?"

Still no response.

A bit concerned, he grasped her shoulders and rolled her over to face him, and was met with a face flushed nearly completely blue. Her eyes were closed, her breathes were quick and shallow, and she had a sheen of sweat on her blue-tinted skin. He reached out and touched her forehead, pulling back quickly at how unnaturally hot her skin was. Her forehead was even hotter than the first day he had been in here.

"Oh, oh fuck. Fuck fuck fuck Vriska, this is bad, this isn't just a cold." Tavros said, talking more out loud to himself than to a still-asleep Vriska. "I'm calling Karkat." As he fumbled for his phone, he felt a hand weakly grasp his wrist, and looked over at half-opened eyes.

"D-don't call the others…" She muttered, eyes unfocused and darting around, seeming to search for his face. He gently took her hand from his wrist, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Sorry Vriska, I know you don't want them in here, but I need help for you," He said, his screen lighting up at his touch. She half-sat up, clumsily clutching at his shirt, re-directing his attention from the screen to her.

"If you let them know where we are, the – the agent won't be able to escape…"

"What are you talking about?" Tavros asked, panicked over her condition and confused by her words.

"If you don't get the coat, she'll find the note in the pocket…" Vriska muttered, releasing his shirt and falling back to the pillow.

Tavros quickly scrolled through his contacts to Karkat's number, hitting call and lifting it to his face.

"Hey, Tavbro."

"Karkat, I need you to come here. Vriska's really sick – I don't know what's going on, but she's burning up, and she's delirious or something – she's saying things that don't make sense, just – hurry. Please."

"Damn – Ok, I'm on my way." Tavros heard Karkat faintly shout for Rose before the line went quiet, and slipped the phone with "call ended" on the screen back into his pocket, looking back to Vriska, who was mumbling something unintelligible as her eyes fluttered.

"Shh, it's ok, you're ok," Tavros said, taking her hand, and oh god, her fingers were so cold. She stopped murmuring, but turned her head towards Tavros, her half-open eyes flitting around his face.

"Tavros?"

"I'm right here, ok?" He said.

Her eyes flitted shut, and the full minute Tavros spent waiting for Karkat to get there felt so much longer, every second more defined by worry and fear.

When the door finally did swing open, Tavros was jostled as Karkat and Rose crowded around the bed, both trying to see Vriska at once. Karkat touched Vriska's forehead, hissing as he pulled back, and Rose stuck a weird-looking device in one of Vriska's ears, and there was a clicking noise before she pulled it back and looked at it, worry taking over her usually calm features, repeating it with the other ear.

"Her temperature is 105 degrees Fahrenheit," Rose said, stress tightening her words.

"Translate that so the lesser beings here, aka me, can understand," Karkat said, his stress making him snappy.

"It's really bad. 104 is a critical temperature, and 107 or 108 is usually fatal," Rose said shortly. "Karkat, carry her out to the car. We're taking her to the ER." Rose took Tavros's wheelchair's handles as Karkat scooped up a limp Vriska in his arms (gog, he had gotten so much taller in the last sweep), and Rose pushed Tavros down the hallway, Karkat following close behind.

Catz: Google-sensei has taught me much about fevers. I am enlightened. It is me.

Yeah, this is a cliffhanger. Sort of. I'm (not) sorry.

There was TaVris hand-holding in this chapter, but that was intended more as comfort than romance. For now.

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	7. Chapter 7

Tavros looked up from his phone as the door to Vriska's hospital room opened, a nurse walking out. Tavros had volunteered to wait outside of her room while the nurse finished hooking Vriska up to whatever they were plugging into her; IV's and all that. He had her laptop for her; Equisus had fixed it and John(who had come along) had driven home to get while Vriska was being fussed over by doctors and nurses, and besides, he wanted to talk to her. No one had protested Tavros being the one to stay, as Tavros was the only one who had been able to get near Vriska in the past few days, and Rose, Karkat, and John had gone to the hospital cafeteria.

Tavros caught the nurse's attention by asking, "How's she doing?"

"Better," the nurse answered. "We got her fever down and got her hooked up to an IV drip. We've also started a round of antibiotics."

"What exactly does she have?" Tavros asked.

"Advanced pneumonia." The nurse replied. "She'll have to stay here for a few days, but once she's stabilized, she'll be able to go home. You can visit her now if you want." She said, heading off down the hallway.

Tavros wheeled himself over to the door, gently pushing it open, wheeling himself in.

"Vriska?" He called out. "Equius fixed your laptop; it was only the screen that broke.I figured you might want it. You're gonna be in here a few days, after all."

The blankets rustled as a body shifted; the IV drip tugged a bit more taunt as Vriska rolled over, facing away from Tavros.

"Get out, Tavros. I don't want to talk to you."

A bit surprised at the venom in her tone, and not expecting her answer, Tavros wheeled closer.

"Why?"

The hospital bed shifted forward on its wheels as Vriska sat up, her momentum fast enough to move the bed with her.

"Because I told you I didn't want them seeing me when I was sick, Tavros! You think me throwing my laptop at Gamzee was just for shits and giggles? I wanted him OUT. I didn't want them seeing me when I was sick; why would you call them in?"

"Vriska, there was nothing else I could do. You were dying; I couldn't just let you lie there like that."

"I wasn't – You could've – " Vriska fumbled, searching for words that weren't there. She wasn't hooked up to a heart monitor for Tavros to hear a tell-tale quickening rhythm, but the way she was getting flushed in the face and at a loss for words was a good indicator she was flustered and frustrated.

He saw how the bottom half of her eyes seemed to have a blue tint; it was from tears of anger and frustration gathering there. He wheeled himself closer uncertainly, lifting himself onto the bed, and, being careful of the IV hooked up to her, reached over to her. She jerked back, glaring at him angrily as she wiped unspilled tears from her eyes.

"I don't want to hug you. I don't even want to talk to you, I'm here and I'm humiliated and the worst part about it is you're RIGHT, you're right ok, I would have died and there's nothing I could have done about it; see I admitted it so can you please just go because I-" her voice cut off with a strangled sound - her trying to keep from crying - as she ducked her head.

Tavros leaned over and pulled her to him, rubbing her back. She had pushed him away once before, but she was falling to pieces here and was bordering on going into hysterics. He wanted to calm her down before that happened, and didn't know what else to do. Thankfully, it seemed to work; she simply curled in on herself, hands balled into fists against his chest, refusing to cling to him or embrace him, but not pushing him away. He figured she actually did want comfort, and she did realize it wasn't his fault and that she shouldn't be mad at him, but she was so angry at the situation that she was lashing out at anything and had pushed him away the first time without meaning it.

She did calm down, but he could tell she was making an effort to. He could tell she was trying so hard not to cry, and sometimes half a choked sob would escape her before she cut it off mid-way.

He kept rubbing and patting her back until she pulled away from him, wiping escaped tears from her face with her sleeve.

"You ok?" Tavros asked.

"Yeah," Vriska muttered, not looking at him. She had an irritated look in her eyes, and her cheeks were blue with an embarrassed blush. Though Tavros might like to think she was embarrassed from being hugged by such a cool and handsome sempai, he knew that in reality, she was probably embarrassed about crying in front of him. Her irritated look was probably that too; her not being irritated at Tavros so much as being irritated about crying in front of him.

"Hey." Tavros said, waiting to continue speaking until she looked up and met his gaze. "Can you tell me why you're so upset over being taken care of?"

Vriska sighed, looking down again. "It's complicated."

Tavros reached over, gently and briefly touching her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "I've got all day."

Vriska looked into his face, unsure and searching.

"You can trust me," he said quietly.

Vriska bit her lip, before sighing tiredly, like she was giving up both control and a burden at the same time, before opening her mouth and spilling her guts.

Catz: And of course that's where I end it.

There will be Vriska feels in the next chapter. Stay tuned.

Its so difficult to write about the motive's behind Vriska's actions, especially from another character's viewpoint. Vriska's a complicated girl in the first place, and she doesn't show her emotions easily, so writing about the thoughts and motives behind her actions is challenging. But not impossible. Maybe I'll do the next chapter in her pov. MAYBE.

Oh yeah. Still not a doctor. Don't know much bout pneumonia. I tried to learn, but Google-Sempai can only teach me so much.

Tavros is not Vriska's sempai irl. I was using it ironically like I'm a Strider up in here.

Leave a review, skittles~


	8. Chapter 8

"Spidermom never really took care of me so much as I took care of her. I had to feed both of us, had to take care of myself. And I always could. I never had to rely on anyone for anything; I always could do it myself. I never had to trust anyone, so I don't know how to." I looked down to the side, continuing.

"Besides, it's not like I was the most trust worthy troll. I set a bad example for myself," I sighed, thinking back to all the troll's I'd mind controlled and fed to Spidermom. I still wasn't sure how I felt about that. Back on Alternia, it had been normal. I had even been proud I could mind control so many trolls to the point that they wouldn't even be able to break free when their lives were in danger. But my time here, with the humans; it made me see things differently.

"So it scares you to let others take care of you, because you don't trust them?" Tavros asked. I considered that.

"Well, not really. I guess a little, but it's more like I got freaked out when I couldn't recover from the flu, because that hadn't ever happened before; a time when I couldn't take care of myself. I was scared I might be...losing my edge, or something. So I was really stubborn about it, wouldn't let anyone take care of me, insisted I wasn't sick. I knew I was, but I was...afraid to accept help; afraid I was going soft or something."

"That makes sense," Tavros said, "But the reason you couldn't fight it off is because it was a human flu; and we don't have antibodies against those."

"Yeah," I sighed, "But that didn't make me feel differently about it."

"I guess not," he said.

I gave a morse little tug on one of the tubes in my arm. "Ugh, this sucks. Not only do I feel like shit, but I've got all these people taking care of me, when I didn't even want one taking care of me before." I looked up just in time to see Tavros's face change from wounded to concealed. I groaned.

"I didn't mean it like that, Tav. You know I don't want anyone taking care of me; it's not just you."

"I understand why you feel like you do. But," Tavros said quietly, "accepting help from others doesn't make you weak."

"It just feels like they're mothering me. Like I can't take care of myself. And I always have," I said.

"You don't have to anymore, though." Tavros said softly. "You have us. Everyone at the house. Your friends."

I looked down. Of course I knew that; but I wasn't sure I wanted to let anyone help me with anything. Being completely self-sufficient made me feel strong, and though most of the time I was stronger for it, there were instances like this where I just...couldn't...do it by myself.

And it might be nice to have someone to lean on sometimes. Maybe I could learn to trust, too. Have a real friend for once; someone I could let my guard down around.

But it just felt so...wrong. So weird. So vulnerable. I couldn't help it; I couldn't just decide to trust someone, I felt suspicious of everyone. It felt like I was jumping into a pit without knowing if there was a net at the bottom or not. And I couldn't just easily let others help me with things; it felt like I was giving up control, gave me a feeling of being weak that I hated.

Both trusting and accepting help scared me a lot.

"You can trust us." Tavros continued gently. "You can trust me."

My mind journeyed back to when I'd been sick and Tavros had taken care of me. It had made me feel babied, for the most part; I'd needed help walking across a room, for gog's sake!

But Tavros hadn't helped me with anything I could do by myself. He'd even made it so I could eat by myself, instead of him having to feed me or some shit.

It had felt strange to have him brush through my hair. A bit scary, like he might pull it from my head at any time. A bit suffocating, like letting him do it was proof that I was too weak to. Like I couldn't even do something as simple as brush my hair by myself.

But it had also felt sort of nice, under all the scary. Sort of freeing.

And even though I hadn't had much choice in the matter - I was lying in bed, burning up with fever from a flu turning in pneumonia, after all - I still had let someone else take care of me. I had had to trust him, to give him control.

I had trusted him. And I could again.

Even if it was scary.

"I know," I replied, smiling hesitantly.

I could.

And maybe I even would.

Catz: "Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on," -Bill Withers

I kind of want to take this story down, but I won't, just for all you who like it. I feel like this whole thing was clunky and didn't flow right, but I did try really hard to make it work. But holy shit is it hard to try to write what goes on in Vriska's head.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


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